My Little Pony: Undead Bandages
by Dudewhatdidyousay
Summary: The Cutie Mark Crusaders are up to their usual antics, but they uncover an ancient magical pyramid with Twilight's help. What dangers await them inside? Can they bring the reward for their efforts back home? And who keeps leaving the stuff they need in convenient spots?
1. Prologue

"My Little Pony: Wrapped In Mystery."

Chapter 1: Prologue.

All seemed fine in Ponyville on the 24th of October. Twas a busy week, most of the ponies were all gathering spooky decorations for Nightmare Night, or Halloween as some may call it. But, one small group weren't. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were up to their usual antics, trying out many things, ridiculous or not, to get their cutie marks. Of course, most of these usually resulted in trouble, but they are very persistant. There are only three members of this group.

Scootaloo, a yellow pegasus with a purple mane, Sweetie Belle, a white unicorn with a curly purple mane, and Apple Bloom, a light yellow pony with a red mane, were all in their little wooden clubhouse, thinking of something to do for their cutie marks. "Did we try scaring others?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Yep, did that..." Apple Bloom responded. "How about photographing?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Don't you remember what happened?" Scootaloo replied. "We got scolded and disliked by our friends for helping write gossip". So, after their brainstorming session, they finally came up with an idea. "Hey, I have an idea!" Scootaloo said. "Why don't we try being explorers?". "That sounds like a great idea!" Apple Bloom said approvingly. They went out and started searching the area for a cave or something to explore. "Found one yet?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Nope." both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo replied. "Oh this is hopeless..." Apple Bloom said doubtingly. "Lets just have a short break." Scootaloo said. "Agreed." The other 2 said. So they went home, tried to steal cider (but failed) and ended up with apple juice, and went back to the clubhouse. "Well this is awful..." Apple Bloom said. After they had their apple juice, they went back to looking for something to explore. On the street, they found an old book.

"A book?" Apple Bloom wondered. "Maybe it has what we need in it!" Sweetie Belle said. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Scootaloo asked. "Read it to us!". "From the Castle Of The Two Sisters, move 10 steps right. Then, from there, move 40 steps north. After that, move 10 steps once again to the north. After you have done this, simply say the special incantation located in a special spell book and then 'it' will open." Apple Bloom read out loud.

"Whats 'it'?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I don't know, maybe its a diamond that we could sell for bits?" Scootaloo replied. "I wonder if our friend Twilight knows anything about this..." Apple Bloom pondered. They brought the book with them and went to a treehouse. Apple Bloom knocked on the door. The door opened, a light purple aura around it. Inside the house was a purple pony - Twilight. "Oh hello girls." Twilight said. "What do you need today?".

"Well, we found this old book lying on the street, and inside it were directions to somewhere listed as 'it'." Apple Bloom explained. "Do you know what it is, Twilight?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Hmm..." Twilight replied. "Would you mind handing it to me?" She asked. "Not at all." The 3 of them said in unison. Twilight swiftly read the book. "Well, im going to need more information if i want to find out what this 'it' is." Twilight said.

"Did you find anything else while you were there?" she asked. "Nope." Scootaloo replied. "I think you should go back to that area next chance you get, see if anything else is there." Twilight said. "Yes ma'm!" Scootaloo responded in a very military-esque manner. So they went back to the street where they found the book, and found another book. The book had a dusty cover with no words on it. "Another book..." Apple Bloom said.

"Right next to that other book we found." Sweetie Belle remarked. "Okay, i don't know if this is coincidence, but who keeps leaving these books here?" Scootaloo questioned. "Maybe somepony's butterhooves and keeps dropping them?" Apple Bloom attempted to answer. Little did they know that this book was very special...


	2. The Adventure Starts

"My Little Pony: Wrapped In Mystery."

Chapter 2: The Adventure Starts...

The three fillies eagerly opened the book, but, to their surprise, the text was not legible. "Whats it say?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Those aren't Equestrian words..." Apple Bloom remarked. "Its in another language". They brought the book to Twilight, hoping she could read it. "Another book?" Twilight asked. "Yep, another one." Apple Bloom replied. "In the same area? Looks like somepony was butterhooves..." Twilight said. "Its not legible".

"But thats why we brought it here, Twilight." Sweetie Belle said. "Well your in luck, I just learned a new translation spell thats sure to translate what it says!" Twilight confidently said. She used the spell, and the words started to fade, and then they re-appeared. "sdnas eht fo gnik eht, erkailoP fo kooblleps eht si siht." Twilight read aloud. "I have no idea what you just said." Scootaloo commented. "The spell worked, but its in reverse..." Twilight said.

Twilight found out the puzzle. "Oh i get it now..." Twilight said. "What did it mean?" Sweetie Belle asked. "It translates to 'This is the spellbook of Poliakre, the king of the sands.'" Twilight replied. "The king of the sands...?" The 4 pondered. "That is very strange, Celestia never told me of a king of the sands..." Twilight said. Below that sentence was more that the spell did not work on. "Theres more, but its still in the other language!" Sweetie Belle commented.

Twilight attempted the spell again on the book, but the words were still illegible. However, words started to form on the cover. "Huh?" They all questioned. The words formed into the sentence "Written by Jaliko O. Faakilagro". Neither Twilight nor the Cutie Mark Crusaders knew who these 2 were. "Hold on, I'll be right back..." Twilight told the 3 fillies. She used a spell to teleport to the entrance of Celestia's kingdom.

"Ahh, Princess Twilight..." A royal guard said. "You may pass". "Thank you." Twilight replied. She went in, and went into the throne room of the 2 princesses: Luna and Celestia. "Oh hello Twilight." Celestia said. "What do you need?". "Well, Princess Celestia, I found 2 books, one giving me directions to somewhere and the other a spellbook with some illegible text." Twilight said. "Would you please present them to me?" Celestia asked.

"Of course." Twilight replied. She gave the somewhat translated book to Celestia and she flipped the reverse words to normal words. "Oh i see..." Celestia said. "Who is Poliakre?" Twilight asked. "Oh, him..." Celestia said. "Is he evil?" Twilight asked. "No, he is actually the opposite..." Celestia said. "Back when Luna and I were not even born, he ruled the sandy, humid lands while King Nocturne ruled the rest."

"He was a little forgetful, but he did his part with a warm, calm and serious behaviour." Celestia commented. "Where is he now?" Twilight asked. "Well, he, along with his followers, were kept perserved in bandages in his ancient, magically sealed pyramid in a way that some like to call mummification." Celestia answered. "Thank you for taking your time to tell me this, Princess Celestia, but what does that other text translate to?" Twilight asked.

"It translates to an incantation that i think has a special effect..." Celestia answered. "Where did you find this, anyway?" She asked. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders found it on the street and gave it to me". Twilight answered. "Okay, Twilight, I have an assignment for you." Celestia said. "What is it, Celestia?" Twilight asked. "I want you to go with the Cutie Mark Crusaders on their quest for adventure..." Celestia said.

"I have sensed evil where the directions tell you to go. And besides, the little fillies want an adventure, so its a win for you both". And then their adventure finally started...


	3. Inside The Ancient Pyramid

"My Little Pony: Wrapped In Mystery."

Chapter 3: Inside The Ancient Pyramid...

Twilight teleported back to her house, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were anxiously waiting for her arrival. "Okay girls, im back..." Twilight said. "What did you find out?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Lots...but its really long, so i won't tell you. Im going to make a book of it, so you can read that if your really curious". Twilight replied. She teleported to where the other old book stated, but it just seemed like a plain, empty grasslands area. "Well, this is it..." Twilight said.

From her previous visit with Celestia, the bottom text of the book was translated, and Twilight spoke the incantation. "Sealivro Exvalidra!" Twilight shouted the incantation. Out of nowhere, the grasslands transformed into a large desert with large prickly cacti. Twilight got this feeling like something was tapping where her cutie mark was, although nothing was there. A loud rumbling was heard as all 4 of the ponies ran out of the way.

Something came out of the sandy ground that looked like a sharp, large triangle made of sandstone. "Celestia was right...that incantation did do something special." Twilight commented. "Well, what are we waiting for? Lets hop inside!" Scootaloo exclaimed in excitement. They ran to the large iron doors that came with the large triangle-like structure. To their disappointment, it was sealed by extremely powerful magic.

Suddenly, the doors opened by themselves. "Spooky..." Sweetie Belle commented. "Well, atleast the doors are open now." Apple Bloom said. When they went inside, the doors shut and locked themselves closed. "How did they lock themselves shut?" Scootaloo questioned. "Theres no unicorn or anything to close them". "Maybe its a..." Sweetie Belle said with a gasp. "GHOST!". "Don't be silly, Ghosts are old ponytales meant to scare." Twilight replied.

Suddenly, they heard laughter that sounded sinister, but also sounded a little childish. "...Then explain THAT." Scootaloo said in a shakey voice. "Uhm...the wind, maybe?" Twilight attempted to answer. They were all pretty scared, as they saw moving shadows that looked like the sheet ghost costumes for Nightmare Night AKA Halloween. Despite their fear, they pressed on and found stairs.

They walked up the seemingly endless staircase, candles lighting automatically with purple, ghostly flame. "Well...this was unexpected..." Twilight said. Finally, after a long time, they made it up the stairs and into a seemingly empty, dark room. Twilight activated a light spell to allow them all to see. A unicorn stallion in a dark gray robe approached them. "Ahh...visitors..." The gray-robed unicorn said in a really weak voice.

"Alright, are YOU the one making these weird things happen?" Twilight asked. "No, I have been stuck in here ever since the doors closed on me...its those spirits..." The stallion said. He took off his dark grey robe to reveal an old unicorn with a skin color the same as the very sandstone of the pyramid.

"Are you friend or foe?" Twilight asked. "That depends...what side are you fighting for?" The old, sandstone colored stallion replied. "I fight for the side of good...to show everypony that friendship is magic! I am the princess of friendship after all..." Twilight told him. "...So naive..." The old unicorn stated. "...Naive? I'll have you know that i was the best of Celestia's most gifted class!" Twilight exclaimed. "Friendship is a trap..." He replied with a glum face.

"I have learned from my past mistakes...friendship is what brought me to this cursed place, friendship never helped me..." The old unicorn said. "FRIENDSHIP...IS THE REASON WHY I'VE BEEN TRAPPED HERE FOR 90 YEARS!" He shouted in anger. "Calm down..." Twilight said. "...Right, lost my temper there..." He said, regaining his calm, weak tone of voice. "But, now you see why I believe friendship is a trap..." the old stallion said.

"Whats your name?" Twilight asked. "Sandstone Builder..." He said, pointing to his cutie mark - a brick made of sandstone. "So you built things?" Twilight asked. "Yep...houses and everything..." He replied, sounding a little warmer instead of his cold tone. "But those days of freedom are gone...I lost that 70 years ago..." He said. "And now im 90".

"I feel really bad for you..." Twilight said sincerly. "Is it okay if i ask you one question...?" Sandstone Builder asked. "Sure!" Twilight bravely said. "I am dead inside..." The old stallion said. "Could you bring me back to the light...? I need to relearn the joys of life..." He asked. "I would never leave anypony in the dark like that!" Twilight said bravely. "How far have you gotten in here?" She asked. "You're looking right at it..." Sandstone Brick answered.

"Well...lets press forward!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly. "Finally, some action!" Scootaloo exclaimed. They continued forward in the dark, haunted pyramid...


	4. The Pyramid's Many Trials

"My Little Pony: Wrapped In Mystery."

Chapter 4: The Pyramid's Many Trials.

After some time of walking around, they found another staircase. "I hope its not as long as the last one..." Scootaloo said. They walked up the staircase, and it was surprisingly a lot shorter than the last staircase. No candles lit up, but they were around. When they got up, they were in yet another dark room. Twilight attempted to use her spell for light, but she was out of magical power. "Dang!" Twilight said.

Suddenly, Sweetie Belle was lifted up off the ground. Twilight attempted to use her magic to pull the white filly down, but the thing lifting her was too strong. "Oh no..." Twilight said. A ghost made itself visible and appeared in her face. "Prove that your magic is strong enough to pull this back, and then you shall pass." The ghost said. Twilight used her magic and tugged with maximum force at Sweetie Belle, but she was barely moving.

Twilight kept trying and trying, until, finally, Sweetie Belle came out of the ghosts hands and onto the ground. "Very expertise..." The ghost said. "Usually many visitors fail the test". "I need to pass, free this old stallion you've kept hostage, and find the treasure of this pyramid." Twilight said. "That is a lot you need to do here..." The ghost said. "You may pass". The wall crumbled and disappeared into dust near them as the ghost disappeared.

"Why did we need to do a test?" Scootaloo asked. "I don't know...but I guess these ghosts want a challenge." Twilight replied. "Man, that was SCARY!" Sweetie Belle commented. The staircase was before them. They walked up it, the candles once again lighting up. "How many floors does this pyramid have?" Twilight asked. "I am unsure, but i hear its 20." Sandstone Builder replied.

...

"Ugh..." Twilight grunted. "What floor are we on...?" Sweetie Belle asked, exhausted. "The 10th floor..." Sandstone Builder said. "Ugh, theres 10 more?" Apple Bloom asked. Then, a ghost came over and caused everybody but Twilight and Sandstone Builder to disappear. "Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Twilight shouted in a concerned matter. "So those are their names..." Sandstone Builder said to himself. A ghost appeared and started laughing evilly.

"Did you do this?!" Twilight shouted angrily. "Ahh...yes, it was me whom made them disappear." The ghost responded. Twilight used her magic to start suffocating the ghost. "Ugh!" The ghost exclaimed. But then he got a smirk smile. "Whatever happened to friendship is magic...?" He asked in a smug tone. This caused Twilight to put him down. "This is another one of this elusive haunted pyramid's trials..." Sandstone Builder said.

"Remember Twilight, he didn't actually kill your friends...think of it like drama class". "Your little friend has ratted me out...well then, i commend you on this feat." The ghost said. "Now you may pass...the next trial awaits you on the 15th floor." The ghost said. With those words, it disappeared into thin air.

...

"We made it to the 15th floor..." Sandstone Builder announced. "Oh...that means trial, right?" Twilight asked. "Remember this, Twilight: All of these are fake, just seem real...With this in mind, you now know exactly how to beat them." Sandstone Builder said. The ghost appeared and created the illusion that Twilight's loved one's died, but she was unflinched. "How are you unflinched!?" The ghost questioned in shock.

"Fine...you have made it past the final trial." The ghost said. "Pass through this wall that I will open up, and then enter the staircase that will take you to floor 50". "Floor 50?" Twilight asked. "Sounds really long..." Sweetie Belle said. They started walking up the gargantuan, spooky purple fire candle filled staircase.


	5. The Mummies Of Floor 50

"My Little Pony: Wrapped In Mystery."

Chapter 5: The Mummies Of Floor 50.

Literally 4 hours later, Twilight, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and Sandstone Builder FINALLY got up the seemingly never-ending staircase and ended up on floor 50. The walls that were originally sandstone are now golden with thousands of different types of gems encrusted into the wall. "Wow...could this be the room of Poliakre?" Scootaloo asked. "Well, the sudden change to golden, gem-encrusted walls seems to suggest so." Twilight responded.

In front of them were huge doors made of diamond and sealed with Alicorn magic. Twilight, being an Alicorn herself, shot a big beam at the sealed doors, and the seal was broken. All of them were just looking at and admiring all the riches. "Awesome!" the Cutie Mark Crusader's said in unison. There were tons of things in the room that were extremely valuable, such as diamonds, emeralds and platinum necklaces with diamond inside.

They couldn't help but stare. "All of that was totally worth it..." Sweetie Belle said. "You betcha! Now we are rich, and we can buy anything we've ever wanted!" Scootaloo shouted happily. Near them was a big golden sarcophagus. "Maybe theres more riches in that big case!" Sweetie Belle happily stated. Twilight got this bad feeling, like she felt a darkness emanating from the sarcophagus. "No, do not open that." Twilight firmly said.

"Why not?" Scootaloo asked. "Because i sense evil in that thing..." Twilight said. "But there could be something totally awesome in there!" Scootaloo said. "Scootaloo don't open that sarco-" Twilight's sentence was cut off when she opened it. It revealed a seemingly dead stallion with bandages covering his body and closed eyes. "Eww!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. Suddenly, the eyes opened, revealing glowing yellow eyes without pupils or an iris.

The undead stallion with an old and gnarled horn on his head, started moaning and walking around, a golden necklace with an emerald inside tightly on his neck. "Woah!" Scootaloo said as she dodged his horn. "Could this be King Poliakre?" Twilight asked herself. Twilight then found an old paper that was surprisingly legible. It read "When the dead are disturbed, the only method of driving them away is singing a lullaby". "A lullaby?" Twilight wondered.

"Who knows a lullaby?" Twilight asked her comrads. "I do!" Sweetie Belle said. "Well, please make sure its a good one, because the living dead hate loud, noisy songs!" Twilight warned. After Sweetie Belle sang the lullaby, the mummy had dropped to the ground like a rock. Twilight picked the mummy up using magic, and put him back into his resting place. Somepony woke up from a sarcophagus that they didn't know.

"Huh...?" The pony muttered as he awoke. "Oh, hello..." Twilight said, waving at him. "...Company...?" The pony wondered. "How did you pass the trials?". "The trials were no problem with my friends at my side!" Twilight confidently replied. "Is that...Sandstone Builder...?" The pony asked. "Yeah, do i know you?" Sandstone Builder asked. "Yes...Sandstone Builder don't you remember?" The pony replied with a question.

"Remember what?" Sandstone Builder questioned. "Sandstone Builder...im your brother, Jaliko O. Faakilagro." The pony responded. "...Oh yeah, my bro...i thought you looked familiar!" Sandstone Builder said. "Wait a minute, the book that lead me here said the author was Jaliko O. Faakilagro...does that mean you wrote it?" Twilight asked. "Could possibly be me...what was the book's content?" He asked.

"Directions to this area...and I also found a spellbook with an incantation that, when i said it, summoned the very area we are standing in..." Twilight replied. "Ah yes...I wrote both of those books. I was King Poliakre's top sand guard when he was still ruling." He said. "But, if you wrote it, but you are here, then how did the book get into the streets of Ponyville?" Twilight asked. "Well, that I am unsure of, but there are many mysteries in this world..." He replied. "King Poliakre was that mummy you put to sleep earlier..." Jaliko commented.

"But i heard he was a warm, calm and serious stallion...Why is he so hostile towards us?" Twilight asked. "Things go through changes, most of the time they are very drastic changes, through undeath. If a warm-hearted, kind, caring and easy to abuse pony turned undead, i'd guess that she's hostile, heartless, full of false pride and narcissistic." Jaliko replied. "Wow, those are serious changes..." Twilight said.

"Do you know the way out, mister?" the Cutie Mark Crusaders asked. "Ah yes, the way out..." Jaliko said. "Well, this place disables magic, but let me change that". He shot a small beam at the mummified king, causing him to yelp in pain and make that rule non-existant. "Now you can teleport out of here..." Jaliko said in a friendly tone. "Thanks!" Twilight and the Cutie Mark Crusaders all said in unison.

Twilight held the Cutie Mark Crusaders close to her, and teleported them back to their houses and then herself back to her treehouse library.


End file.
